Conway Makes Flames Pay Penalty in Belfast

After falling to the Dundee Stars last weekend, it seemed like the Giants would suffer back-to-back reverses as they were two behind going into the final period, but goals from Mark Cooper, Bobo Carpenter and J.J. Piccinich took it to overtime and Conway won it with the first shot of sudden death.

First period

Guildford got off to the dream start just 55 seconds in when Austin Glover put them ahead as he swept in the rebound from Charlie Dodero’s initial shot (0-1), while at the other end Eamon McAdam started strongly between the pipes for the visitors as he stifled the Giants’ repeated surges up the ice.

Although the home side were on top for most of the opening frame, it would be the Flames who would double their lead at 15:53 as a giveaway in the Giants zone presented the puck to Ryan Tait and he fed Ethan Strang in front for the clean finish to stun the home crowd (0-2).

They wouldn’t be silenced for long, though, as a tripping penalty against Matt Alvaro presented the Giants with the powerplay and Cooper made the breakthrough, cutting in from the left circle and beating McAdam over his right shoulder to cut the deficit to one at the intermission (1-2).

Second period

Tom McCollum had to make a big save on Tait early on as the Flames started to turn up the heat, but the biggest chance of the early exchanges went to Scott Conway as he fired over from the left face-off dot after an excellent feed from Bast.

But a slashing call against Ben Lake put Guildford on the powerplay from which they would get their third goal as Joshua Waller rifled in at 29:26 to put them two ahead again (1-3), and they nearly extended their lead in an impressive period for the English side as Samuel Talbot went between the legs with an attempt that was well corralled by McCollum.

Third period

The Giants got off to a hot start in the third period as Carpenter got them back within one at 41:59, going on the wraparound and picking the top corner from a tight angle (2-3), and the home side dialled up the pressure as Josh Roach and Cooper both came close during a purple patch for Keefe’s men.

But just when it seemed like the Flames would hold on for the win, a too many men penalty against the visitors handed the Giants the powerplay from which they would grab the tying goal, David Goodwin feeding the puck from the left to the right circle and Piccinich was on hand to snap in the equaliser at 56:47 (3-3).

Overtime

The extra period was largely dominated by the Flames, who were aided by playing a fair chunk of it on the powerplay due to a tripping penalty on Conway, but McCollum was able to navigate them through danger, making a big double stop on James Shearer in close, and take it to a shootout.

Shootout

Grant Mismash scored with the Giants’ first shot of the shootout only for it to be cancelled out by Strang’s finish with Guildford’s second, and from there the two netminders took control as McCollum and McAdam shut the door until sudden death, where Conway proved the game-winner with a five-hole finish for the extra point (4-3).

Next up

Next up, the Stena Line Belfast Giants complete a home double-header weekend as the Manchester Storm are the visitors on Sunday 9 February, followed by a return to Challenge Cup action with the first leg of their semi-final against the Nottingham Panthers on Wednesday 12 February.